A-10C 81-0962

[eaglecash867]

Just been making glacial progress on this one during down-time on the Fw190 project.  I have the down-time again now while I wait for my sanding belts to get here so I can put a nice finish on the wing leading edges of that one, hopefully with no seams to fill after using the sanding belts.

I've been working a little bit here and there on the 1/48 Academy A-10C, and I'm going to do this one as 81-0962, which is the demonstration team aircraft with the tribute SEA camo on it.  Gotta say, I'm really impressed with the details that academy has made serious effort to faithfully reproduce.  It does have fit issues, mostly with the tab/slot assemblies present in the nose gear bay.  The issue is that the fit is TOO tight.  So I had to do some trimming of the tabs and some widening of the slots...but MAN...pretty much EVERY detail of the nose gear bay is faithfully reproduced.

Got a bunch of AM stuff for it, including everything that Eduard had available in their non-cockpit, 3D printed stuff.  Also got AM engine inlets from MCC, with separate fans that are set at the correct depth.  And, of course, a full set of Quinta decals for the pit.  So far I just have the cockpit bucket finished out, along with the Eduard 3D printed ACES II seat.  The Speedhunter Graphics decal set for 81-0962 that I got even has a really nice set of decals for the seats, including decals for the aircraft serial number stencils that A-10Cs have on their seats.  Trying a new experiment for the seat cushions, since the Eduard seat has separate seat cushions which makes it so I don't have to scrape anything away.  I found the right thickness of adhesive-backed, black velvet jewelry box lining material, cut it to size for the black sheep-skin cushions/seat covers, and then made vertical slices in the velvet for the seat back.  Pretty happy with how it turned out.  I think I'm probably going to get the seat permanently mounted to the cockpit bucket before putting the Quinta seatbelts on it.  I think that'll make it easier to handle without chasing stuff all over the bench.

Whew!  Sorry for the book.  Here are the pics:

[buddho]

Looking great...this will be another beauty of a build. 🤓

[kyledehart5]

Can't wait to watch the progress on this one.

[handiabled]

Bookmarked! Office looks great so far. With the stack of goodies you have this it'll be excellent watching coming together

[Tojo72]

Cool,I just acquired this one,I will watch and learn

[spook]

Looks good .

I got this kit started it and ended up putting it back in the box and stuck it on the shelf of Doom !
Fit issues and warped parts .

[deafpanzer]

Your office is looking great already!

[themongoose]

Great start and progress so far!! I’m looking forward to seeing more and more.

[eaglecash867]

Thanks for the comments, guys!

Got a little more done on this one...finished the glareshield/instrument panel assembly and the stuff on the rear deck behind the seat. I had to modify the mounting of the DTU on the rear deck because the kit mounting point is too close to the centerline and the left side of the seat needs to occupy that space (this could just be because I'm using the Eduard 3D printed seat). Pretty easy modification though. Still dry-fitting all of the sub-assemblies though until I'm sure everything will play nice together.

[brandonk]

WOW !! That is looking spectacular. The details are fantastic and the pic, HOLY COW!! Dude, you're crushing it!!

[kyledehart5]

That looks awesome!!

[deafpanzer]

Your office really looks great!

[Steve Zuleski]

Awesome, love the bucket work!

[eaglecash867]

Thanks guys! I have to say that, so far, this is one of the most enjoyable build experiences I've had in a while. The kit is great so far and it also helps to REALLY like the subject matter...the A-10 is my absolute favorite aircraft.

Just got the DEF Model instrument panel with HUD set. Bought it just for the glareshield and HUD. The glareshield and HUD look so much better than the kit versions, but I'm not sure if the kit instrument panel will mate with it, so I'm experimenting with that. I figured 10 bucks was a good "What the hell...do you wanna live forever?" price to try it out. I was looking for something else on Sprue Brothers to make it worth the shipping cost, and the perfect thing popped up in the suggested items...a book..."Reid Air Publications - The Modern Hog Guide: The A-10 Warthog Exposed". MAN am I glad that book came up in the suggested items. VERY nice book with all kinds of high quality, color photos of every part of the Hog.

Did a mock-up of the whole forward fuselage assembly and was pleasantly surprised to see that the seat fits well inside the canopy, even when the canopy is closed. It has been a while since I worked on a modern jet that didn't need modifications to the seats to get them to fit with a closed canopy. But, same as it often is with a modern jet kit, the canopy and windscreen are going to need to be heated up and flared out just a tiny bit so the rails are flush with the sides of the fuselage. Not too big a deal though.

[kyledehart5]

Really nice work!! Cockpit looks so good stuck down in its home.

[eaglecash867]

Thanks Kyle! Yeah, you really get the sense of all of the brilliant design work that went into coming up with the A-10. You can see just how everything is angled downward to give the pilot a pretty much unrestricted view of the ground in front of him.

Waiting for a couple of items to come in the mail to really pull the cockpit and glareshield together, so I jumped ahead to start putting the wings together. From the looks of it, I think Academy is coming for Tamiya. The precision of the wing components on this thing is absolutely amazing. The way they designed the flaps and spoilerons gives the most realistic look I have seen of those things on an A-10 model kit. The weapons pylons fit absolutely precisely, with nice, solid, keyed rectangular tabs and slots for attaching them to the wings. Did a dry fit of all of the components of one of the wings tonight, and I'm hooked...don't think I've been this jazzed about a build in a while.

[kyledehart5]

I can only say positive things about their 1/72 F14 too. It has been a joy to build.

[Tojo72]

Cockpit looks great.

[406 Silverado]

WOW!!! What a show and thank you for sharing the details of this kit with us eagle. I've talked with nathant about this kit and he said pretty much everything that you said in regards to how well this kit is engineered. Great progress and fantastic results and I love that felt idea you had for the seat. Keep up the good work. 

[M1Carbine]

Front office looks perfect.

-Bob

[handiabled]

Picture perfect cockpit!

[Medicman71]

Very nice! I have this kit in the stash. And you can't go wrong with the Modern Hog Guide or any of his books for that matter. They're essential for modern aircraft modeling.

[kyledehart5]

I need to get this kit. I’ve always wanted to do an Indiana Air National Guard A-10. After my recent great experience with modern academy I am thinking this kit is the way to go.

[Medicman71]

I've heard that the Academy kit is better than the GWH in terms of price. And it's not over engineered like the GWH kit.

[eaglecash867]

Thanks for the comments guys!

Medicman, the Academy kit is about half the price of the GWH kit, and to be honest, I wasn't all that impressed with what I saw in the assembly manual I downloaded for the GWH. The way they do a lot of things in it is just really strange to me, and the nose gear bay seems to be lacking a lot of the details that the Academy kit has. They do pretty proudly tout the correct depth of the fans in their engines on the GWH though, but there are so many AM manufacturers that offer excellent correction kits for the Academy engines, for pretty decent prices.

[benb]

Looking good! I’ve been curious to see how the Academy kit goes together.

Ben

[406 Silverado]

Jul 31, 2024 14:54:36 GMT -5 eaglecash867 said:

Thanks for the comments guys!

Medicman, the Academy kit is about half the price of the GWH kit, and to be honest, I wasn't all that impressed with what I saw in the assembly manual I downloaded for the GWH. The way they do a lot of things in it is just really strange to me, and the nose gear bay seems to be lacking a lot of the details that the Academy kit has. They do pretty proudly tout the correct depth of the fans in their engines on the GWH though, but there are so many AM manufacturers that offer excellent correction kits for the Academy engines, for pretty decent prices.

  I've heard that same thing elsewhere eagle. Pretty much makes the choice in which one to build pretty brainless. Looking forward to the next update here. 

[kyledehart5]

This thread and other built ups I’ve seen definitely have me wanting one. Anyone want an old Hobby Boss A10? 😂

[Medicman71]

Aug 3, 2024 14:38:22 GMT -5 kyledehart5 said:

This thread and other built ups I’ve seen definitely have me wanting one. Anyone want an old Hobby Boss A10? 😂

I have the Hobby Boss and the Academy one. Oh and I just saw yesterday that GWH are releasing an early "A" model Warthog with the Euro 1 camo.